Graduating US Physicians Feel
Unprepared To Manage Some Common Conditions
The September 5, 2001 Reuters Health story leads with the statement
that says "Many physicians completing their residency training feel
unprepared to treat conditions common to their specialty." This
report was based on a report in the September 5th Journal of the American
Medical Association. Dr. David Blumenthal from Massachusetts General
Hospital in Boston told Reuters Health, "One important lesson of our
study is that objective data on the preparedness of residents to practice
as they complete their training are scarce and that we have a professional
responsibility to measure the outcomes of graduate medical education more
thoroughly and carefully."
Dr. Blumenthal and colleagues surveyed 2626 graduating residents in
primary care including internal medicine, family practice,
obstetrics/gynecology and five other specialties to assess their
self-perceived preparedness to provide common clinical services. The
report said that the graduating residents felt ill prepared to manage many
common situations. Dr. Blumenthal concluded. "Those who enter routine
community practice should be aware that there may be gaps in their
preparedness that they will need to remedy later in their practice lives,
or that they will need to compensate for in some other ways."
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